Orange Is the New Black

My Year in A Women's Prison : A Memoir

With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years ago. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187-424--one of the millions of women who disappear "down the rabbit hole" of the American penal system. From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules, where the uneasy relationship between prisoner and jailer is constantly and unpredictably recalibrated. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Orange Is the New Black offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison, why it is we lock so many away, and what happens to them when they're there.

Summary:With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years ago. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187-424--one of the millions of women who disappear "down the rabbit hole" of the American penal system. From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules, where the uneasy relationship between prisoner and jailer is constantly and unpredictably recalibrated. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Orange Is the New Black offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison, why it is we lock so many away, and what happens to them when they're there.

Opinion

From the critics

Community Activity

Comment

I loved it! Piper is clearly someone who made a big mistake when she was a young woman, and had to pay for it later in life because of flaws in the legal system! I think she gives an eye opening account of the penal system, especially through the eyes of a woman!

Piper Kerman could not be bothered to study anything there is a market demand for in college because, she claims, she is "creative". Creative or not, she did not have the imagination to foresee the consequences when she starts carrying drug money, not the consequences to herself, her family or the many people whose lives are ruined by heroin addiction. The author apparently thinks she makes amends by condescending to socialize with her fellow inmates, many of them victims of selfish people like herself. This book is a long laundry list of Piper's virtues and Piper's grievances with the penal system, some legitimate, such as the use of solitary confinement, most petty, like the shoes she is initially issued because they call attention to the fact she is new to the prison. The stories she has to tell about life in prison are interesting enough but her insufferable arrogance, her entitled attitude is really hard to take.

I loved this book - Piper Kerman went through an amazing journey of self discovery. I found myself rooting for her.

Bugalugs
Jul 13, 2014

Engaging social commentary of life in a women's jail and the bizarre nature of crime and punishment compared to crime and restoration/redemption. The insights into the other women's situations were outstanding as exemplars of how unjust justice in American jails can be. Good commentary overall and worth a read.